Loading ...To Tip or Not To Tip?
Posted by Kirsten Henri on October 13th, 2008
The New York Times Magazine offered up a food-centric issue this past weekend and it’s chock full of good food nerd stuff, from food politics to a catfish controversy. But it was this profile of a small restaurant in San Diego that has officially done away with tipping that really caught our eye. A tidbit:
Eighty percent of Americans say they prefer tipping to paying a service fee, according to a Zagat Survey. They do so, Leo Crespi’s surveys first demonstrated, primarily because they believe tipping provides an incentive for good service. But there is little correlation, in fact— less than 2 percent, according to Michael Lynn, a Cornell professor of consumer behavior and marketing.
Economists have struggled to explain tipping. Why tip at all, since the bill is presented at the end of a meal and can’t retroactively improve service? And certainly there’s no reason to tip at a restaurant you will never revisit. “Using a rational and selfish agent to explain tipping, one reaches the conclusion that the agent should never tip if he does not intend to visit the establishment again,” Ofer Azar, the economist, writes. “Yet this prediction is sharply violated in practice: most people tip even when they do not intend to ever come back.”
How do you feel about tipping? Would you rather just pay a service charge? Do you think you get better service? Do you tip to make yourself feel better?
- None Found
October 13th, 2008 at 11:55 am
It’s not tipping I believe in, it’s overtipping!
October 13th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Tipping’s an absurd practice that hurts both professional servers and consumers. It breaks apart server unity, ensures that most servers will never see employer-based benefits, encourages (non-patriotic) income tax misstatement, encourages upselling.
A 2005 op-ed piece by Steven Shaw, said it best:
October 13th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Forgot the link to the Shaw editorial:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/10shaw.html
October 13th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Keller did this at the French Laundry and Per Se a while back, but he’s able to get whatever he wants from patrons anyway, who are, after all, willing to pay his prices to start with. It’s much braver for a lil’ guy to follow suit.
For me, the issue is not at all about service, it’s about people who work darn hard making a living. So I always overtip: a couple of dollars doesn’t mean much to many of us, we can make it up brewing coffee at home instead of getting ripped off at S**rB***s. For a server, a couple dollars more from each diner could mean a great deal.
Having said which, I think we should forget about any “service charge” and go straight to eliminating the exemption in the labor laws that allows owners to do this. I’ve never bought any of the assorted rationales for it that I’ve heard batted around: if the salaried-server model can work for the rest of the world, why would it be disastrous only here?
October 14th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
agree, why have a service charge? its disingenuous. charge me for my meal and pay your employees instead of making me figure out your payroll.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
There is NO tipping in Japan, and the service is about a thousand times better. But overall, they are a much more competent culture who just does their work, from sweeping streets to running companies.
Eliminate tipping and just add in a service charge–a small one as in many European countries. This is just getting absurd here.